


Whatcha' reading?

by scarlettletterr



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Hale Family, M/M, Merman Stiles, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-08 11:29:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3207548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scarlettletterr/pseuds/scarlettletterr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek hates the beach. No, seriously, he hates it. So he spends his time brooding, and reading, alone on a rock - yes he is aware of how pathetic that makes him but he doesn't really care -. But there are things underwater way more fascinating than those in the books he reads.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raisesomehale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raisesomehale/gifts).
  * Translation into Русский available: [Что читаешь?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5237453) by [ElasticLove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElasticLove/pseuds/ElasticLove)



> For the lovely [Madi](http://raisesomehale.tumblr.com) because she said she wanted mermaids to calm herself down, and I think she's wonderful and even though it's un-betad and probably full of terrible mistakes I just wanted to make her happyyyy!
> 
>  
> 
> come say hi on [tumblr](http://pfudorqueen.tumblr.com)
> 
> Disclaimer : These characters belong to MTV and Jeff Davis ; I do not own any TW character or material

Derek hated going to the beach with his family. First of all, Laura and Cora were practically naked (he didn't care that it was called a "bikini" it was showing too much skin) and every single guys were looking at them. Derek knew his sisters were hot - objectively, because he was not really into boobs and vaginas, nor was he into his sisters, thank you! - but having to smell the lust pouring out of every single male around them was not really how he wanted to spend his vacations.

He preferred reading on the porch of their house in the forest. But Laura and Cora wanted to go to the ocean, and they always ended up having what they wanted. Every single time. Even the time they wanted Derek's room to be bright pink. He's still not entirely sure how Laura managed to convince their parents, but he had to live in a girly girl room for two months before his dad realized that he did not, in fact, like pink.

His sisters were evil. Especially Laura.

 

"Deeeer-bear!" Speaking of the devil... "Deeeeer-Bear! Come on, stop pouting so much, you're uglier than usual when you do that".

It only made Derek frown his eyebrows a little more.

"Stop being a spoilsports Der-bear and come have some fun with us!"

"Leave me alone Laura." Derek growled before looking down at his book again. He was reading _Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea_ by Jules Vernes and he was fascinated. The descriptions in the book seemed so real that, if he closed his eyes, he was certain that he could just imagine the ocean and its secrets.

"Stop being boring! You're always boring Der-bear!"

When he kept ignoring her, Laura huffed and left him - finally - alone. He was 21 for God's sake, he should be allowed to choose what he wanted to do with his free time without the devil in a micro red bikini breathing down his neck.

"She's right you know honey..." Talia Hale brushed back the hair on the forehead of her son. "You spend too much time in your books my darling. You should spend time with real people, with your friends... or make new ones."

"I hate the beach, you know that, she knows that, everybody knows that" Derek gritted through his teach. "I don't  _want_ to be here but I'm not making a scene."

Talia sighed, but said nothing. Her son was stubborn, just as much as his sister - and herself - he was just more mature than her eldest child. It pained her to see him so closed off sometimes. She just wanted what was best for her child, as every mother does.

"Fine, honey... Have fun with Captain Nemo."

 

\----

The next day, Derek overslept. He had been reading the whole night, until his glasses dropped off his nose and he fell asleep with his cheek against the book. He had drooled on it a little bit.

He left the house after noon with his belly full of toast and his book under his arm. He walked past the beach towels were his sisters were tanning, and kept walking on the beach until he reached one of those rocks that overlooked the sea. He hoped on it, opened the novel, and spent the day ignoring his sisters' attempts at annoying him.

 

\----

It's on the fourth day that he saw something weird.

Laura and Cora were never far enough if you were asking him, throwing sand at him, swimming around the rock he was perched on. So he kept pushing, going a bit further every time, until he finally went far enough so that he couldn't see or hear his family anymore. Or anyone, really, to be honest.

Aronnax was just discovering Atlantis when he was startled by a voice.

"Watcha' reading?"

He looked to his right, then to his left, but saw no one. Was he going crazy already?

"I'm here, you guppy!" said the voice, laughing.

Derek narrowed his eyes, and looked at his feet. He almost let his book escape in the sea.

"Hi! Watcha' reading?"

 

Derek... Derek couldn't speak. Because the perso...no, the  _creature_ that he was seeing right before his eyes could not be human. First because its skin was pale and almost...green looking. Then, because HELLO, GILLS! 

"Oh, sorry. I thought...since you're a wolf...I didn't think you'd be so surprised... hum.. Sorry...Are you okay? You look a bit green..."

 _YOU look a bit green!_ wanted to scream Derek. But he couldn't get over the fact that there was a freaking mermaid right in front of him!

"Hum...Did I broke you? Please don't be broken, you're too pretty to be broken, and also my dad would be mad and you don't want to see him mad I mean WOW hurricanes and stuff..."

The mermaid kept talking, sinking deeper and deeper in the ocean as it - no,  _he_ \- was talking, and suddenly Derek was reaching for him, not wanting to see him disappear.

"No!" he almost screamed, grabbing the mermaid's arm. That he released almost immediately when the mermaid growled at him. "I'm sorry! I didn't want to hurt you, I just.. don't go! It's just... I've never seen a mermaid! I didn't even know you existed!"

The mermaid growled again. "I'm not a mer _maid_! I'm a mer _man_! It should be obvious you know, with the lack of shells on my breasts!"

Derek gazed wide-eyed at him. Were mermaid really wearing shells on their boobs?

"Of course no you guppy!" the mermai...no, merman, laughed. Oh. Apparently, Derek had said that out loud. "I was just mocking you. It's funny because it's easy!"

 

Derek was too gobsmacked to even scowled at him.

"I'm Stiles! What's your name? Watcha' reading?"

"I'm...eh... I'm Derek."

"Are you sure? You seemed awfully hesitant,!"

"Well I'm sorry if I'm a little shocked after seeing a freaking merman!" Derek exclaimed, moving his arms in weird circles, his book flying straight into the ocean. "Oh. Shit."

Half a second later, the merman, Stiles he had called himself, vanished without a single splash, leaving Derek alone and confused. Extremely confused. He had never thought he would find green-looking skin attractive but... the merman had been wet, all thin muscles and beauty spots. His skin looked so soft and...

"Found it!"

Derek almost slipped from his rock, and the hand of the merman was reaching for him in a heartbeat.

"Wow, eh there big guy, don't go break your neck! It would be such a shame!" Stiles flashed him a grin.

Was... Was he  _flirting_ with Derek?

"I'm sorry your book is wet. Was it any good? I can never read books, because my dad doesn't want me to come to the surface too often and well...you see what happens when they stay under the sea."

Derek looked down at his book. The cover was ruined, and the ink was running where he had kept notes in the margin.

"Why doesn't your dad allow you to come to the surface?"

"Well Derek... humans, duh. I mean, why don't you run around half shifted?"

Because humans were not supposed to know. Yeah. Derek felt a bit like an idiot.

"Anyway. What's the book? Is it good? Do you like it? What is it about?"

Derek blinked. The merman was...closer than he remembered him. He could see the liquid gold in his brown eyes. It looked like the whiskey his uncle liked to drink by the fire. It was...mesmerizing.

"Hum... It's... _Twenty Thousands Leagues Under the Sea._ It's about a...submarine. That goes...under the sea." Real smooth Derek. "I'm not sure you'd like it...you know since you...live under the sea."

 

The merman blinked at him once. Twice. And then laughed.

"Oh by Poseidon! You're  _funny_!"

Derek felt him himself smiling widely. He liked the merman laugh. He liked it a lot. It sounded like the birds at home that sang in the forest. He liked those birds' songs very much.

"I have to tell Scott! He'll never believed me! He doesn't believe that humans can be funny!"

"Well...technically I'm not entirely human..."

Stiles laughed again. "See? That's what I'm talking about! You're funny, Derek!"

 

\----

He only left the rock and the merman because the sun had finally set on the ocean, and his family would probably go looking for him if he were not to return to the cottage soon.

"Will you come again tomorrow?" Stiles asked, his big and beautiful eyes looking a bit hopeful.

"I...yes. I will."

"Do you promise?"

Derek took a second to look at the merman, taking in his cheekbones, cute upturn nose, and full, kissable, cupid lips.

"Oh I definitely will!"

 

He could have sworn that the merman blushed a little - his skin looked a bit greener - before he dived into the ocean. It was a prettier sight than the sun setting.

He didn't even noticed that he had forgotten his book on the cliff before it was too late and he was already in his room. Strangely enough... He didn't really seem to mind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because [LadyOfTheWindDweller](http://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyOfTheWindDweller/pseuds/LadyOfTheWindDweller) asked for more... Here you go!  
> Still un-betaed, so mistake are totally mine and I'm so sorry for that!  
> Hope you enjoy it!  
> And thank you, thank you so so much for all the kudos and hits! This is insane, I love each and every one of you!

Derek woke up the next day feeling strangely excited. His mom gave him an intrigued look when he entered the kitchen but said nothing. He was thankful for that, because he didn't want to face her interrogation skills. She wasn't the alpha because she liked ponies and unicorns. She was actually pretty scary.

"I'm going to the beach! See you later mom!" Derek exclaimed as he exited the kitchen, a book in his right hand, an apple in the left.

 

When he reached the rock, he suddenly realized that he was way too early, and that Stiles probably wouldn't show up until a couple of hours. Disappointed, he opened his book and bit into his apple, reading without paying attention the adventures of the Captain Nemo. He couldn't focus on the writer's words, his mind drifting to the merman he had met the day before.

Stiles was...absolutely fascinating. And not just because of the moles that were doting his pale-green skin, and those sinful lips. He was wicked smart, even though Derek couldn't understand half the things he was saying (he couldn't understand why he kept calling him a guppy. What even was a guppy?). His life under the sea seemed so exciting. Stiles had been laughing so hard as he was telling him how Scott had dared him to go and tickle the grumpy octopus and both of them had ended inked from head to toe! Or head to tail.

Derek had been disappointed when Stiles told him that the creatures were not capable of communicating with them, at least not in the same way as the Little Mermaid put it. They usually didn't like mermfolks - Derek liked the term - and kept to themselves, living their lives swimming in circles. Stiles had laugh for ten long minutes at him when Derek admitted that he would have like to talk to dolphins. Dolphins were cool, okay?

 

"Hi Derek!"

The merman voice took the werewolf by surprise - he definitely had to be more careful, it was the second time the merman was starling him! -.

"Hey Stiles! You're here early!"

Derek had only been here for an hour and a half - but he was not about to admit that to the merman, are you crazy? -

"I guess I missed you! But look who's talking! Have you been here long?"

Derek shook his head. He had been so lost in his thoughts anyway that he had only read two or three pages.

"Awesome! Now, tell me more about the forest!"

And Derek did.

 

\----

The next days were spend the same way. At first, Derek grabbed a book and some fruits, but soon he left the book in his room and took the time to make sandwiches for himself and the merman - who was dying to try meat, and ended up finding it disgusting ("It taste like dirt! Dirt, Derek! How can you eat that!") -. His mom never said anything, only smiling at him when he would enter the kitchen.

Laura was different, though.

"So?" his sister asked him one evening, entering his room without knocking, as she always did. He had stopped telling her not to do that after the seventieth time.

"So what, Laura?" Derek sighed, already exhausted by the conversation to come.

"Who is he?"

"Who is who, Laura?"

"He! The guy you're seeing! Don't pretend that you don't get up extra early in the morning and come back extra late! I know you're not spending this time brooding and reading because you smell happy, and you leave your book in your room!"

"You know you're not supposed to enter my room when I'm not here Laura right?"

"Oh, hush! Who is he? Can I meet him? What's his name? Is he from here? Where did you meet him? What do you do all day? Do you have sex on the beach Derek? Oh my god you're so cliché I can't even!"

"Laura, stop!"

Whenever she got too excited about Derek's life she would just ask him a million question, then get mad because he was not answering, and always ended up punching him in the face. And her voice was also high pitched, and that was just torture.

"I'm not going to answer any of your questions."

"You did! You so,so, so did! You had sex on the beach! I have to tell Cora!"

Somewhere in the house, Cora answered with a gagging sound, and a small "I never want to hear about Derek's sex life, ugh Laura!"

 

"I did not have sex with him Laura! Now stop, and get out!"

"But you want to, right? You want to kiss him allll night long, and feel his body against yours, and whisper dirty filthy things into his..."

"Get.Out.Laura!"

His cheeks were bright pink, and Laura left after cackling like the evil creature that she was. Derek threw himself on his bed, refusing to think about what Laura had said.

He had not think about sex with Stiles. Or, okay, maybe he had. But it was because of the... you know... tail. He was curious of how it worked, okay? That's it! It was for science, and science only!

... Oh, shut up!

 

\----

Stiles was laughing so hard his face was bright green, and Derek would have been worried if he was not by now used to the sight. He had grown to love the sound of Stiles' laugh, and was trying to make him laugh as often as possible. It just made him incredibly happy.

"Oh man... I wish I was here to see Cora's face! It must have been awesome!"

Derek bit back the  _I wish you were here too_ he was thinking, and smiled gently at the merman.

"Well...It's getting pretty late, you should head back! I'll see you tomorrow anyway!"

And Derek was about to say yes, but he froze, remembering the date.

"Derek? Are you okay?"

The werewolf blinked, and caught the merman's eyes. They were so damn beautiful.

"I...uh... Yes. It's just... we are leaving tomorrow. Early, in the morning."

The look of concern on Stiles face faded in a second, replaced by incredibly sad eyes.

"Oh...yeah...of course!" The merman tried to smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. His big, beautiful, doe eyes. "Well... uh... It was... it's been really fun, Derek!"

"Stiles...I..."  _I'm sorry_. He didn't want to leave. Oh, fuck. He really, really, really didn't want to leave.

"No, eh, it's ... it's okay, I mean, I knew you weren't here forever! It was just for the holidays and stuff and... It's fine! It's just... It's gonna be weird, you know, not seeing you here."

"I... Yes." Derek managed to croak out.

"Okay. Well...I guess this... this is it?" The uncertainty in Stiles' voice was breaking Derek's voice and, without a second thought, he tilted his head, cupped the merman's cheek, and kissed him.

 

\----

"Why are you more broody than usual? Did you forgot your book? Did someone ate the last cinnamon roll at the bakery? Did..."

"Shut up Laura." These were the first words Derek had spoken since he came back from the beach. They were almost in Beacon Hills, and Derek had, indeed, been brooding more than usual. To be honest, he had been frowning for the entire car drive.

Laura did shut up.

His mom gave him a wary look, and a small smile.

 

\----

"Is everything okay my darling?" Talia Hale asked her son after closing his door. The werewolf had not leave his room in two days.

"I miss him." Derek's voice was muffled by the pillows he was lying under.

"Why don't you give him a call then?" She sat quietly on the side of his bed.

"He doesn't have a cellphone."

"Write him an email?"

"No computer."

"Send him a letter?" Which kind of young man did not have a cellphone or an email address?

"He doesn't have an address."

Talia frowned. "Does this young man need a home, honey?"

"What? No! He's not homeless he's just...." Derek mumbled the rest of the sentence.

"I'm sorry honey?"

"He's a..." Mumble, again.

"Derek, my darling, I can't hear you."

"He's a merman! Okay? He lives under the sea, he has a freaking tail, and he's a...a freaking merman!"

 

Derek felt bad for shouting as soon as the words got out of his mouth. He slightly tilted his head to the right to expose his neck to his alpha, avoiding her eyes.

"Oh...Well I...did not expected that. And, what's this young man's name?"

"Stiles..."

"Oh, is it?" There was something in her voice. Amusement. "Well... I'm sure there's something we can do about that..."

"I don't see what, mom. We're not in a Disney movie."

And with these words, he fell back against his pillows, grunting, eyes closed. He missed the look on his mother's face. Something like... conspiracy.

 

\----

"Hello John, it's been a long time!"

"Good evening, Talia. Too long, indeed. Oh, and good evening Deaton!"

"How is Stiles?"

"Heartbroken, but I guess you already knew that."

"I figured. I have the same problem at home."

"His moping is quite infuriating...I was thinking of sending him away for a couple of cycles..." The man's tone was light and playful, and Talia smiled at him.

"I think I know just the place... Deaton, you still have this potion, right?"

The werewolf, the druid and the merman smiled at each other through the mirrors.

 

\----

"Derek, would you please come down the stairs?"

"No! I already told you, I don't want to go to the movies!"

"Honey, this is not a suggestion!"

Derek hated when his mom was using his alpha voice to force him to obey. He was tumbling down the stairs before he could even finish this thought. _  
_

"I'm here, happy now!"

"Yes my darling, I am."

"Fine, so let's..."

 

He stopped dead in his tracks. Right before his eyes, skin still looking green, smelling of the ocean and books, was standing...

"Hi Derek! So, apparently, I have legs now!"

"You'll need to ingest the potion every seventy-two hours and..."

The rest of the alpha's instructions were wordless sounds to the werewolf. His arms were already draped around the merman, his nose stuck in Stiles' neck, breathing in the smell of the ocean, of the sun caressing the younger man's skin, deafened by the sound of his heart.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too guppy-boo!" Derek couldn't even bring himself to growl at the pet name.

"Are you going to actually let go of me at some point or just...okay, okay, no growling, I'm not going anywhere, you can hug me for as loooong as you want...and manhandle me...Derek, where are you taking me? Derek, what...watch out for the stairs, I'm fragile! And perfectly capable of walking I have LEGS now Derek and...oh...oh... okay...yeah, fine that's...that's a very comfortable bed..."

"Mine." Derek growled, brushing his lips against the merman's collarbone.

"Well duh."


End file.
